Legal marijuana is coming to Vermont this year — at least, if Gov. Peter Shumlin has anything to say about it.
Shumlin (D) offered the broad outlines of a legalization plan Thursday during his annual State of the State address. “The outdated War on Drugs has also failed,” he said, “and there is no greater example than our nation’s marijuana laws.”
Shumlin noted that, although Vermont decriminalized marijuana in 2013, the 80,000 Vermonters who used marijuana last year — more than one in 10 residents — still had to purchase their weed through the black market.
“These illegal dealers couldn’t care less how young their customers are or what’s in the product they sell, or what illegal drugs you buy from their stash, much less whether they pay taxes on their earnings,” Shumlin said.